Gov. Jindal should not forget his job basics: John Maginnis

On the day after Gov. Rick Perry became a national joke for forgetting the name of the third Cabinet department that would be "gone" in his presidency, Gov. Bobby Jindal flew to Nashville for a fundraiser for Perry, who no doubt appreciated the gesture of his little pal Whatshisname. Doomed as Perry's candidacy may be, his neighbor's steadfastness goes beyond loyalty. The Texas governor has done Jindal a great service by replacing him as the worst public speaker in American politics. Perry's minute-long memory lapse neatly supplants Jindal's sing-song delivery of his maiden national speech in February 2009. Perry might be able to read a TelePrompter more dynamically, but one cannot imagine Bobby Jindal blanking out on one of his talking points -- he can recite them in his sleep.

Backing the wrong presidential candidate is no grievous error, especially given Perry's ability to repay the favor somewhere down the line. Jindal was not angling for one of the remaining Cabinet positions in the Perry fantasy administration anyway. He's done working for others, though he probably could be talked into a vice presidential nomination.

Taking the long view, Jindal, while waiting for his shot, or shots, to run for president, seems content with being governor indefinitely, with brief constitutional interruptions. His closest political adviser Timmy Teepell predicted his friend is bound to run for a third term, after sitting out the term that follows the one he hasn't started yet.

Being governor of Louisiana is a hard job not to love. Jindal appears under no pressure, following his landslide re-election, to share details of what he plans to tell the Legislature to do in his second term. Legislators he has tapped to be Senate president and speaker of the House are checking with him before naming committee chairs. The abrogation of the separation of powers, traditional in Louisiana, is unheard of in other states.

What is heard is the hum of his PR machine, polishing up the record of his first term. Along with real accomplishments were included some specious claims that admiring opinion writers in other states have swallowed as fact. The most glaring was Jindal's campaign claim of slashing $9 billion in spending from the budget he inherited in 2008 to the one he signed this year.

In truth, the vast majority of the decrease came from the federal government ending its hurricane recovery payments. The $34 billion Jindal claims as the 2008 starting point was a revenue projection, $6 billion of which the feds ended up not sending. No matter, a Philadelphia Inquirer columnist held up the fictitious 25 percent budget reduction as proof of what other governors could do if they were as resolute as Jindal. Or if they hired his communications team.

In the real world, however, his first term is ending with complaints about the administration's basic performance. The most significant comes after Washington officials pulled back an $80 million grant to the state to deliver broadband Internet service to 21 rural parishes, which Sen. Mary Landrieu said Jindal "fumbled."

The Public Service Commission demanded answers but mostly got blame-shifting from Commissioner of Administration Paul Rainwater and Board of Regents President Jim Purcell. According to them, it was the fault of the Legislature taking a long time to approve spending, a contractor tardy with the work, ultimately the federal government itself for stipulating a system that competes with private companies, and then for not accepting the administration's alternative. PSC member Foster Campbell raised the possibility of favoritism toward private broadband providers who were also Jindal contributors.

When the PSC, including three Republican members, didn't buy the excuses, Jindal blamed that reliable bogeyman, the Obama administration, which, he said, "wants to run the car companies, the banks, our entire health-care system, and now they want to take over the broadband business. We won't stand for that in Louisiana."

His defiant sound bite ignores what Advocate columnist Mark Ballard pointed out, that of 230 broadband grants nationwide, only four were dropped by recipients, and Louisiana's alone was rescinded. So 98 percent of institutions and governments, including states governed by Republicans, found a way to follow or successfully adapt the rules for the benefit of under-served populations without, apparently, undermining free enterprise. Or, what other states manage to do, "we won't stand for that in Louisiana," which, again, stands out.

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John Maginnis is an independent journalist covering Louisiana politics. He can be contacted at www.LaPolitics.com.